By Soo KimShareNewsweek is a Trust Project memberA post about the compassionate gesture that Delta Air Lines employees showed to a passenger following the sudden death of his father-in-law has gone viral on Reddit.
The post, shared by u/DrivenSpike on November 18, has garnered 23,000 upvotes and was titled simply: “Thank you Brenda & Xavier.” Alongside the caption, the user uploaded images of a handwritten card and letter given to him during his travels.
The card read: “Adam, your Delta family is very sorry for your loss ~ DEN Team.” A longer handwritten letter from a flight attendant said: “Adam, on behalf of myself and this entire flight crew, we want to send our heartfelt condolences on the loss of your loved one. I pray that during this time of bereavement, that God gives you the strength to get through these days. You’re in our thoughts and prayers. Respectfully, DEN-DTW #2787 – Xavier.”
In the body of the post, the traveler explained the circumstances that led to the heartfelt exchange.
“I unexpectedly lost my father in-law this morning at 01:30,” he wrote. While in Denver for work, he urgently needed to fly home to be with his wife and their three young sons. When he called Delta reservations, he reached an agent named Brenda. “She was so gentle caring and even cried with me as I processed the loss,” he said. “Needless to say I am flying in now thanks to her.”
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The compassion continued when he arrived at the airport. “When I checked my bags the agent expressed her condolences on my loss,” he wrote. While waiting anxiously to board, he was unexpectedly upgraded, and found a condolence note from the ground crew waiting on his seat. Upon deplaning, he received the handwritten letter from Xavier, the flight attendant.
In the post’s caption, he addressed Delta employees directly: “I want to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to the entire Delta Team.”
He concluded with praise for the workers who supported him during his grief. The poster wrote: “Thank you guys who work tirelessly around the clock. You guys are awesome and make Delta Awesome. You softened this long awful flight. May God bless you all. Thank you for being excellent humans in this world. You guys have my business for life.”
The viral story was shared days before what the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) projected would be the busiest Thanksgiving travel period in 15 years, with November 25 expected to see more than 52,000 flights.
In a statement last Friday, FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford praised the workforce preparing to handle the holiday surge. “Thanks to the dedication of our air traffic controllers and every FAA employee, we are ready for the holiday rush and take pride in helping travelers reach their friends and families during this important time of year,” he said. “I am deeply grateful to our entire FAA team. Even through a period of record-high traffic, their unwavering commitment keeps the system running safely.”
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
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